54th Annual Grammy Awards

54th Annual Grammy Awards
DateFebruary 12, 2012
1:00–3:30 p.m. PST (Pre-Telecast Ceremony)
5:00–8:30 p.m. PST (54th Grammy Awards)
LocationStaples Center, Los Angeles, California
Hosted byLL Cool J
Most awardsAdele (6)
Most nominationsKanye West (7)
Television/radio coverage
NetworkCBS
Viewership40 million viewers[1]
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The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted the show. It was the first time in seven years that the event had an official host.[2] Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011, on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour special broadcast live on CBS from Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live.[3][4] Kanye West received the most nominations with seven. Adele, Foo Fighters, and Bruno Mars each received six nominations. Lil Wayne, Skrillex, and Radiohead all earned five nominations. The nominations were criticised by many music journalists as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy missed out on a nomination for Album of the Year despite being highly critically acclaimed and topping many end of year charts.[5][6] West's album went on to win Best Rap Album.[7]

A total of 78 awards were presented following the Academy's decision to restructure the Grammy Award categories. Paul McCartney received the MusiCares Person of the Year award on February 10, 2012, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, two nights prior to the Grammy telecast.[8]

On February 8, 2012, the Academy announced that the 54th Grammy Pre-Telecast Ceremony would stream live internationally. The ceremony took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center and was streamed live in its entirety internationally at Grammy's official website and CBS Television Network. The ceremony was co-hosted by Dave Koz and MC Lyte. A total of 68 awards were presented in the Pre-Telecast ceremony.[9] The official poster was designed by Architect Frank Gehry.[10]

The day before the ceremony, Whitney Houston died in Los Angeles, and the show's producers quickly planned a tribute in the form of Jennifer Hudson singing Houston's "I Will Always Love You".[11] The awards show began with a Bruce Springsteen performance followed by an LL Cool J prayer for Whitney Houston. Adele won all of her six nominations, equalling the record for most wins by a female artist in one night, first held by Beyoncé.[7][12] Adele became only the second artist in history, following Christopher Cross in 1981, to have won all four of the general field (Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year) awards throughout her career.[13] Foo Fighters and Kanye West followed with five and four awards, respectively.[7][14] With his win for Best Musical Theater Album (for The Book of Mormon: Original Broadway Cast Recording), producer Scott Rudin became the 11th person to become an EGOT winner.[15]

  1. ^ Jon Weisman, Grammy Awards Set for Jan. 26, Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2013
  2. ^ "LL Cool J To Host 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy.com. January 18, 2012. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  3. ^ Recording Academy, CBS enter 10-year Grammy deal Archived June 4, 2012, at archive.today, Associated Press, June 21, 2011
  4. ^ "Jason Aldean, Lady Gaga To Perform At "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!"". GRAMMY.com. October 25, 2011. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  5. ^ Montgomery, James. "Grammy Nominations: The Biggest Shocks And Snubs". MTV. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  6. ^ Mervis, Scott (December 1, 2011). "Grammys stumble with Kanye West album snub". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Grammy.com". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. February 12, 2012. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  8. ^ "Paul McCartney Is 2012 MusiCares Person Of The Year". GRAMMY.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  9. ^ "Watch live: 2012 GRAMMY Pre-Telecast Ceremony". Grammy.com. February 8, 2012. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  10. ^ Architect Frank Gehry Creates Official Artwork for the 54th Annual Grammy Archived March 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Grammy.org December 8, 2011
  11. ^ "Grammys 2012: Whitney Houston tribute to be sung by Jennifer Hudson". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. February 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  12. ^ "Adele wins 6 Grammys, including record of the year". The Clarion-Ledger. Gannett Company. February 12, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  13. ^ Morris, Christopher (February 12, 2012). "Adele's '21' wins album of the year at Grammys". Variety. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  14. ^ Braiker, Brian; Alston, Joshua (February 13, 2012). "Grammys 2012 – as it happened". Guardian. London. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  15. ^ "Scott Rudin, EGOT Winner: Mega Producer Has Won An Emmy, Grammy, Oscar And Tony". HuffPost. February 13, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2023.